


Huck and Stephen - Caged

by lopingloup



Series: Huck and Stephen [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Abuse, Cruelty, Dehumanization, Gen, Non-Sexual Slavery, Nonbinary Character, POV Nonhuman, Pet whump, Physical Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Whump, fictional modern slavery, lemme know if i missed smth, nonhuman dehumanization, nonhuman slavery, nonhuman whumpee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:20:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26070085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lopingloup/pseuds/lopingloup
Summary: (This is me moving my whumpy tumblr fic over to AO3, for ease of reading)Pet is a Creature, a nonhuman believed to be about as intelligent as dogs but with far fewer legal protections. Used as pets, slaves or punching bags to the well-off, Pet is used to feeling unwanted. Then, their life takes a dramatic turn and things begin to look a little more hopeful.
Relationships: Huck & Stephen, Original Character & Original Character
Series: Huck and Stephen [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1892587
Kudos: 15





	Huck and Stephen - Caged

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! *waves*
> 
> So this isn't really new content, but me moving this fic from my whump Tumblr (WhumpThisWay) and making a couple changes to make it easier to read. Still, the chapters are gonna be crazy short, because that's the Tumblr format, and i'll probably make it a series, because i'm writing these in nonchronological order. Hope they're of some use, interest and enjoyment to somebody! <3

Master Parry pointed to the cage, his thick lip twitching.

“In!” he barked and Pet whined softly, shaking their head as they backed into the corner of the small, dark utility room.

What’d they done? They didn’t deserve this, they’d been good, they _had_. They hadn’t talked, or fought Master, or shaken out their wet fur after a bath, or drank from the tap when they were thirsty. This wasn’t _fair_ , they’d been trying so hard.

“Useless, worthless mutt,” Master spat and Pet flinched, flicking their tail anxiously. They were sorry to make Master mad, but they didn’t understand what they’d done wrong. Master only punished them when they were bad and they- “Get in the cage or I’ll get the belt,” Master said, their tone hard and low, just as it was when they were really really angry.

Pet whimpered and scampered into the cage like they’d been told, cowering down. They didn’t understand, they _didn’t_ \- why would Master do this?

Master slammed the door shut, almost catching Pet’s tail in the wire-mesh door and Pet flinched backwards in the small cage, ears pressed tight to their head. They could smell the tangy rankness of Master’s sweat and hear the furious thumping of Master’s heart.

“Finally,” Master snapped, closing the lock with a _click_. “You’re always misbehaving when I have no time for it.” Pet, hunched down with their tail curled around them, hid their face in their paws as they cried in quiet, hitching breaths, even though they knew Master disliked crying.

They didn’t know what they’d done wrong, why Master had done that. Pet just wanted to be good and they just didn’t understand _why_. And because they didn’t know what they’d done wrong, they might do it again without knowing and be shoved in the cage again. Trembling, Pet felt anger squirm inside them, before they shoved it away. Master was always right. Maybe Pet needed reminding of their place and Master was showing them. Pet still couldn’t help but cry.

They heard Master crouch down with a sigh in front of the cage’s door. The light in the utility room wasn’t switched on and, with Master blocking the light from the kitchen, all Pet could see was Master’s shadowed features and not his expression.

“Pet,” Master said. Pet could hear that Master’s heart had slowed back to normal, and his voice was softer again. “Enough crying, stop it.” Pet obediently tried to stop, snuffling quietly and wiping their eyes on their damp paws.

“Crying is for weak pets,” Master said, something he liked to repeat. “And I need a strong pet. You can do that for me, can’t you?” Pet nodded quickly, desperate to appease Master. Master hummed.

With their head still bowed, Pet heard Master shift position and then he pushed his fingers through the wire cage door. Pet knew what was expected and quickly pressed their head up against Master’s fingers, so that Master could rub their fur, or tug on it. Master’s touch always made Pet’s skin feel tight and tingly and they could never decide whether they liked it or not, even when it wasn’t painful. Not that it mattered.

Master pulled a little on their thick fur, but not too hard, so he couldn’t be too upset with Pet.

“I’m doing you a favour, pet,” Master said firmly. “There will be a lot of visitors in the house, and we can’t have you getting in the way. Wouldn’t want your tail getting stepped on.”

Pet’s shoulders relaxed. Having an explanation made everything right again and they purred gratefully, pressing into Master’s touch.

“Greedy,” Master chided, but he didn’t sound overly displeased. Still, Pet kept themself still, desperate to return to Master’s good graces.

“You’ll stay quiet, now,” Master said, getting to his feet as he moved to wash his hands in the utility room sink, like he always did after touching Pet. “I’ll be extremely disappointed if you disrupt my guests.”

Pet whined very softly to show their agreement. Once, they would have eagerly assured Master of their obedience using words, but Master had forbidden that and Pet was mostly glad. It was easier to make Master happy when Pet didn’t have to fumble around for the right words; when they used to speak, everything they said had just seemed to upset Master.

“That’s my good pet,” Master said as he left, closing the kitchen door and casting the room in darkness.

Pleased at the praise, Pet almost didn’t mind the uncomfortable cage floor on the pads of their paws, nor the darkness. Master must have done that so they’d find it easier to sleep, they thought, and Master was kind. Determined to be good and quiet, they curled up to sleep, still feeling the ghostly echoes of Master’s hard fingers rubbing their fur.

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo... Pet's having a rough time, huh? Am i a mean-bad author or what? :3  
> If you want to be better able to visualize what Pet looks like, hit up my tumblr (WhumpThisWay) to see some amazing art people have done of them :)


End file.
